Mavis Walker : The Chess Set : 17 April 2017

The speaker at our April meeting was Mavis Walker with her amazing Chess Set. Some of you might have seen this at the Festival of Quilts in 2015, where it won 1st Prize in the Quilts Creation category. For those who didn’t this was a chance to get up close with her creations and find out how they were made.

Mavis started out with hand and machine knitting in the seventies and eighties. City & Guilds in embroidery and stitched textiles was followed by a Diploma in Stitched Textiles at East Berkshire College, Windsor. She went on to do a BA in Embroidered Textiles at Opus School under Julia Caprara graduating in 2007. She has shown at and is a member of Wey Valley Workshop, Surrey Guild of Craftsmen and the Society of Designer Craftsmen.

The chess set consists of 32 sculpted figures in cloth and stitch which are caricatures from medieval times (the black pieces) and more recent times (the white pieces). According to Mavis, chess is a metaphor for life and the human condition. Each figure is imbued with personality achieved through physical characteristics and body language – a great variety of facial expressions are achieved by using different stitching methods. The pieces are further brought to life through clever choice of tiny props which Mavis finds in gift and charity shops. She personalises each piece with fabulous outfits to suit their personality. And small details are included, such as the embroidered Jack Russell under the gown of the Grey Rook, a reference to Mavis’ sister’s dog. A life size letter opener makes a perfect sword for the Knight in Vigil. The Green Rook – a keen gardener, is wearing a daffodil cap referencing the character’s chemo- and radiation therapy!! And the King Fisher has a tiny Mars bar and Bounty tucked into a pocket.

We were kept entertained as piece after piece was extracted from its suitcase and brought to life with an anecdote or two and plenty of detail on how each piece was made. Mavis explained that the figures document the progression of her learning how to sculpt figures and face in cloth - starting with quite simple stitching techniques with the earlier pieces through to the more sophisticated facial expressions as she honed her techniques on the later pieces.

We thoroughly enjoyed Mavis’s entertaining presentation and appreciated her fantastic skills which had gone into making each individual piece stand out from the crowd.

​Sue Aron

​All images copyright of each makerWebsite designed by Sabi Westoby 2015